Image of an astronaut looking at the moon in outerspace
Illustrated by Magictorch; 3d_molier InternationaL/Turbosquid (Spacesuit)

A New Moon Mission

What will it take for humans to go back to the moon?

By Jess McKenna-Ratjen | Illustrated by Magictorch
From the February 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will explain how and why astronauts are returning to the moon.

Lexile: 890L; 620L
Other Focus Areas: Engineering, Machines, Measurement & Data, Numbers & Operations
Download and Print
What You Need to Know About the Moon
Watch a video about Earth's moon.

Imagine floating weightless in a spacecraft. The moon’s surface is outside your window. Beyond it, thousands of miles away, you see Earth, brilliant and blue.

For four astronauts, this experience will soon be reality! Their mission, Artemis II, is expected to launch in April 2026. They’ll travel around the moon and back over 10 days. The trip will cover a total of 685,000 miles (1,102,401 km).

Between 1968 and 1972, NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon. These trips were called the Apollo missions. Since then, only machines have made this long journey. Now NASA has planned a series of at least five new moon missions—all with human crews.

“I’m really proud and excited,” says Victor Glover. He’ll fly the spacecraft, called Orion, during Artemis II. “Going back to the moon is good for humanity.”

Why the Moon?

Image of a statue with its stag

DEA/G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini via Getty Images

Mission Names Explained: The first moon missions were named after Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. The moon goddess Artemis (above) is Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.

In the summer of 1969, 650 million people were glued to their TV screens. They watched as Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. He called that stepone giant leap for mankind.” And it was!

The Apollo missions led to important discoveries and inventions. Scientists have learned a great deal about the solar system by studying moon rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts. And many technologies, like portable computers and modern smoke detectors, were made for space travel before they were used in homes.

With the Artemis missions, NASA hopes to explore different parts of the moonespecially its poles (top and bottom). One of NASA’s goals is to build a space station near the moon so that astronauts can study it up close for long periods of time.

For now, the Artemis missions are still in the testing stage. In November 2022, NASA flew the empty Orion spacecraft through space for about 26 days. This test flight was called Artemis I. Its success proved that the spacecraft can travel around the moon and return to Earth safely. The next question is: Will humans be safe inside it?

Image of astronauts and one of them on the moon

Neil Armstrong/NASA/MSFC (1969); NASA (Apollo 11 Crew)

The Apollo 11 crew from left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin

The Mission

NASA couldn’t be certain that all of Orion’s parts worked properly during the Artemis I test flight. There were no humans to breathe its air or communicate using its radio. Testing these parts will be the main goal of Artemis II.

During the astronauts’ 10-day journey, NASA scientists on Earth will be watching. These scientists will make sure Orion’s life support systemsthe technology that keeps the ship’s air breathableare working. The crew will try to communicate with mission control through radio and video from beyond the moon. They’ll even make sure the toilet works! The team will do all this in an area the size of an average bedroom. They’ll squeeze into a circular space that’s 16.5 feet (5 m) across.

When Artemis II launches, Orion will first orbit, or circle, close to Earth for about a day. If anything goes wrong, an emergency system will help the crew quickly return home. If all goes well, the ship will blast its engines for the four-day trip to the moon (see Artemis II Mission Path, right). The pull of the moon’s gravity will swing Orion around the moon. Then Earth’s gravity will pull the spacecraft back to our home planet.

Image of spaceship and its astronauts

NASA/Amanda Stevenson (2026); ROBERT MARKOWITZ NASA-JSC (Artemis II Crew)

2026: The Orion spacecraft is expected to take the Artemis II crew around the moon. 

 

The Artemis II crew clockwise from top left: Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman

Preparing to Launch

The Artemis II crew has been training since June 2023. They began by learning how the Orion spacecraft works.
Then they used a special machine called a simulator to practice flying it.

While the crew trains, NASA’s engineers are getting Orion ready. During the Artemis I test flight, they found a few things that didn’t work properly. Thanks to that test, the engineers are able to fix those parts before Artemis II’s launch.

NASA will use what the astronauts and mission control learn from Artemis II to make improvements for the next mission: Artemis III, scheduled for launch in 2027. If all goes well, that mission will be the first to land humans on the moon in more than 50 years!

Scientists today are still finding more to learn from those Apollo moon rocks. No one knows what Artemis III’s crew might find as they explore new areas of the moon’s surface.

This is going to be the beginning of discoveries that we will continue to make for generations,” says Glover.

STEM in a Snap: Create a Moon Crater
Watch a video that demonstrates an experiment.
video (2)
Video
What You Need to Know About the Moon

Watch a video about Earth's moon.

What You Need to Know About the Moon

Watch a video about Earth's moon.

Video
STEM in a Snap: Create a Moon Crater

Watch a video that demonstrates an experiment.

STEM in a Snap: Create a Moon Crater

Watch a video that demonstrates an experiment.

Activities (0)
Quizzes (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

1. PREPARE TO READ (15 minutes)
Activate students’ prior knowledge about the moon.

  • Ask students to share what they have observed or learned about the moon. If you have students who speak another language at home, ask them to share that language’s name for the moon. Play the video What You Need to Know About the Moon.” Ask: What did you learn about the moon? What might make it hard to explore the moon?

2. READ AND SUMMARIZE (30 minutes)
Read the article, then use drawings to help summarize main ideas.

  • Give each student five sticky notes. Project the article. Read the first section aloud while students follow along. Ask students to turn to a partner and spend about 30 seconds discussing what that section was mostly about. Then give students about 60 seconds to draw and describe the most important information from that section on a sticky note.
  • Repeat that approach for the next three sections and the Artemis II Mission Path diagram. Give students one minute to review all of their sticky notes. Ask: In one sentence, what was this article about? Have students turn and talk with a partner. Then have pairs share their sentences with the class before summarizing their sentences into one. (e.g., Four astronauts will fly past the moon in April 2026, undertaking the first crewed mission to the moon in about 50 years.)
  • Cement students’ understanding with one or more of the following activities: the No-Sweat Bubble Test assessment, By the Numbers math sheet, or one of the activities in the Vocabulary Kit.

3. RESPOND TO READING (30 minutes)
Use a hands-on activity to model how moon craters are formed by impacts.

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